It is our right under international law to take measures in face of attacks from Afrin, Syria, says Turkey's foreign minister

World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday slammed the presence of the YPG/PKK in northern Syria, saying that Turkey’s possible Afrin operation came in response to the group’s terrorist threat.

“Turkey is subject to attacks every day from Afrin. It is our right to self-defense in line with international law to take measure against a terror group surrounding us on three sides, violating our rights, and we should intercede,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told news channel CNN Turk.

On the U.S. arming and backing the YPG/PKK terror group, he said: “Supporting the YPG/PKK means threatening Syria’s territorial integrity.”

He added: “We have informed them [US] we will be intervening in Afrin and we will take action against the threats towards us wherever they come from on the eastern side of the Euphrates, in Manbij or elsewhere.”

Turkey does not want to see its ally, the U.S., on the opposite side of a conflict, he said.

About the expected Afrin operation, he said it would target the terrorist PYD/PKK, not the Kurds.

“This distinction should be made clearly. We should take all measures, including supplying humanitarian aid, to avoid civilians being harmed. And we should take steps carefully,” he said.

He said that the PYD/PKK’s armed wing, the YPG, had forced Kurds into exile, as more than 300,000 Kurds have fled to Turkey.